Man spots thief behind wheel of his car, goes after him

This is an archived article and the information in the article may be outdated. Please look at the time stamp on the story to see when it was last updated.

Please enable Javascript to watch this video

By Jill Glavan

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. (Oct. 7, 2014) -- An Indianapolis man had his car stolen, spotted the thief behind the wheel and decided to follow him to get the car back.

Zach Plummer stood Monday in front of his red Jeep, but he had quite the story about where the Jeep had been since last week.

"It’s just a pretty odd feeling to one minute have your car and then the next minute not have it," Plummer said.

It was last Thursday when the medical student left his near northside home, quickly realizing his car was gone.

"I tried to be rational, I was like maybe I parked it somewhere, maybe I left it at a friends house. As all those started falling through it became more and more apparent that no, my car was taken," Plummer said.

Plummer called police and made a report. He and his roommate decided to go to dinner and that's when things got really strange.

As they stopped for gas at the Shell station at 16th and Illinois, he spotted his Jeep with someone else behind the wheel.

"I kind of yelled to (my friend), through the window, 'Hey that’s my car' and that’s when the guy (pulled) away," Plummer said.

Plummer and his friend decided to follow the car. They called 911 and stayed on the phone with police, leading them right to an east side home where officers recovered his car and caught two people.

At no time did Plummer confront the thief, thinking that wasn't the best idea.

"We wanted the car back but not at the cost of escalating the situation further," Plummer said.

In fact, police said he was smart and handled the situation correctly.

"I think (he) did the right thing. Called 911, stayed off from a distance and just kind of ... observed," Ofc. Christopher Wilburn with IMPD said.

Plummer was obviously relieved to get his car back. He said police also found another stolen car and stolen items. Those are still under investigation.

He said that he thinks he left the car unlocked and the thief found a hidden key inside. It's taught him a valuable lesson that everyone can learn, as well, to never leave your car open to thieves.

"I would just insure that you’re car’s locked at all times," Plummer said.